Vermont Medical Society Education and Research Foundation Scholar Vanessa Patten, who is a member of the UVM College of Medicine Class of 2014. (Photo by Raj Chawla, UVM Medical Photography)

Third-year University of Vermont medical student Vanessa Patten was awarded a $10,000 scholarship by the Vermont Medical Society’s Education and Research Foundation at the Society’s annual meeting, held October 27, 2012 in Woodstock, Vt.

Funded through generous contributions from Fletcher Allen Health Care, members of the Vermont Medical Society, and the Chittenden County Medical Society, the scholarship is awarded annually by the Foundation to medical students who are committed to practicing medicine in Vermont and caring for Vermonters. The scholarship program, created by Mildred Reardon, M.D., UVM professor emerita of medicine, was created to encourage young doctors to return to Vermont after completing their residency training. Reardon was instrumental in forming the Vermont Medical Society Education and Research Foundation.

Originally from New Hampshire, Patten earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science in 2009 from UVM, where she participated in the Premedical Enhancement Program (PEP). A joint offering of the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the College of Medicine, PEP provides enhanced opportunities for a select group of highly qualified first-year undergraduate students undertaking a premedical curriculum. PEP students have access to a practicing physician-mentor and other medicine-related opportunities while they pursue an undergraduate degree.

The vice president of the UVM College of Medicine’s Student Council, a student ambassador and a former varsity cross country runner, Patten hopes to practice family medicine in Vermont. Her extensive volunteer service includes counseling Vermont high school students aspiring to enter the medical profession, working as a high school math tutor, teaching health lessons at local elementary schools, and organizing volunteer work and co-directing a girls health and fitness program at the Burlington Boys and Girls Club. She also previously worked as an in-home health provider with Armistead Caregiver Services and as a veterinary technician assistant at VCA Brown Animal Hospital.

“It is our hope and intention that by offering this annual scholarship we can successfully persuade medical students to practice medicine in Vermont, especially in its less-served areas, ensuring that Vermonters in all parts of the state continue to have access to excellent medical care,” says Reardon.